Online betting
firm breaches UK online gambling ad rule

The
UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said online betting
company Paddy Power has broken the new gambling advertisement
rule by linking online betting with increased sexual prowess.
The advertisement in question was for financial spread betting
and featured a man drinking champagne in a limousine, while
flanked by two women.

The Paddy Power campaign featured
a short man and the text: "Who says you can't make money being
short?", which according to ASA suggested the man's self esteem
had been transformed by his financial success, which appeared to
have come from gambling. In its defense, representatives for
Paddy Power claim that the ad is aimed at those who would have
understood the term "being short" referred to financial spread
betting. "We concluded the ad suggested this man's
'shortcoming' had been overcome by the wealth he had acquired
through gambling and therefore that the ad implied gambling was
a way to improve self-esteem or gain recognition or admiration.
We concluded the ad was irresponsible," was the official
stance by the UK Advertising Standards Authority and the
advertisement has been withdrawn by the bookmaker.

ASA also stung the popular Malta-based
online casino "InterCasino", after a series of television
advertisements which the agency concluded could appeal to
children and young people. InterCasino insisted the humor was
not intended to be juvenile and said the advertisements were
designed to fit its "fun and relatively light-hearted" brand.

The two rulings are the first since the
new law was introduced on September last year to coincide with
the new Gambling Act. Advertising rules were tightened as
gambling websites, bookmakers and casinos were permitted to
publicize themselves on TV for the first time.